Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2013)
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 132 NO. 7 10 Pages Wednesday, February 13, 2013 City again discussing Heritage Park Indian sculpture Some are pushing for a Umatilla Indian theme; others say stick with Heppner s Irish heritage By David Sykes placing an Indian sculpture The city of Heppner is in one of its parks, and once once again talking about again some are saying an Irish-type statue would be more accurate and appro priate. At a January meeting of the city parks committee, several Heppner residents submitted several “options” for a statue at the park, which is located near the farm museum and already has a windmill and several antique farm equipment pieces displayed there. Former City Manager Dave DeMayo is the main proponent o f the Indian statue idea, telling the com mission he would volunteer to work with the Umatilla Indian Tribes “at his own expense” to develop and locate a statue there. The parks meeting drew a response from Heppner resident Tom Wolff, who urged the city not to place an Indian-themed statue in the park. Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon “Heppner and the Wil- School district to change headquarters There is disagreement about what type of sculpture or statue should be placed at the above location in Heritage Park in Heppner. -Photo by David Sykes low Creek Valley have a the turn o f the century,” long and deep heritage of Wolff wrote in a letter to Irish culture and sheep in- -See CITY COUNCIL/PAGE fluence, dating from before s ix Baily Bennett wins state award School board votes to close Lexington district offices, move to Heppner Elementary building By April Sykes The Morrow County School Board voted Mon day night to close down the school district office in Lexington and move the district operations to Hep pner Elementary School. “The move has been precipitated by an eroding budget, plus an effort to re duce expenditures through the district,” said a district news release. “Heppner Elem entary School was selected based on the avail ability of space with little to no renovations being necessary. The district has completed an evaluation of Lexington's response: February 11, 2013 To: Superintendent Dirksen and Members o f the Morrow County School Board From: The Lexington Town Council In lieu of being at the school board meeting, as our council meeting is the same night, these thoughts will have to do in writing. Mr. Dirksen called to in form the council that the school district offices will indeed be moved to Heppner Elementary School. Our question: what is the plan for the old buildings left in Lexington? It is our understanding that when the school was taken from Lexington that there would be a presence of the school district in each community and the dis trict office was that for Lexington. Most citizens un derstand that things change and buildings don’t last forever. However, leaving buildings boarded up, to deteriorate even more, without a plan for the building or property doesn’t sound like a presence the district would want to leave in the community either. When the town made the choice to build a new fire hall, it was with the understanding that the old building would be demolished and the land made into a park or seeded to grass or whatever would make the prop erty a nice site. The council believes that the same should be true o f the school district. If you choose to abandon the buildings, then a plan for the demolition and maybe a kiosk giving the history of the site should be in place or perhaps a plan to sell the property to someone who would renovate and/or develop the property. Just making another “Brownfield” for the community doesn’t seem to be a wise option for the school district or the town. We would appreciate hearing about your plan for the property. necessary maintenance on the District Office building and has decided money will be better spent in the classroom with teachers and aides who work directly with students,” continued the release. Superintendent Dirk Dirksen said it was esti mated that renovating the building would cost in the neighborhood of a million dollars, while closing the building would save an es timated $40,000-$50,000 a year. He said the fate of the building has not yet been decided, with options in cluding selling the building, donating it or demolishing it. “The building will con tinue to be monitored and the gym will be utilized by individuals for activi ties. The district plans to continue to work with the community to ensure all interests in the building and community are met,” said the release. The district had histori cally said that they would maintain a presence in the L ex in g to n com m unity, something that the district says it still desires. (See sidebar.) The board agreed to send a letter to the city of Lexington. The superintendent’s office will be moved to the “old Title room” at the end of the hall on the top floor at Heppner Elementary; the executive secretary’s/ personnel director’s office will be established in HES’ previous counselor’s office; and the rest of the business office will be located in a previous classroom, said Business Manager Andy Fletcher. Also that evening. Dirk- sen’s performance review -See SCHOOL DISTRICT/ PAGE SEVEN The Morrow County School District plans on closing its of fices in the former Lexington school. The offices will be relo cated to Heppner Elementary; plans for the Lexington build ing are unknown. -Photo by David Sykes Mustang Senior Baily Bennett winds up for the pitch during an HHS softball game last year. Bennett was initially chosen as a finalist for the Oregon Sports Awards Prep Athlete award based on her softball performance. - Photo by Sandy Matthews Heppner High School senior Baily Bennett was named Prep Athlete of the Year at the 61s' Oregon Sports Awards, held Sun day, Feb. 10, in the Stanford Theater at the Tiger Woods Center at N ik e’s World Headquarters in Washing ton County. Bennett was nam ed Johnny C arpenter Prep Athlete of the Year. Class 4A-1A female, for her per formance playing softball for HHS. The award was named for Johnny C ar penter, a pioneer sports broadcaster for KOIN from 1937 until his retirement in 1969. He helped found the Oregon Sports Writers and Sportscasters Association. The award went to the out standing male and female Oregon 4A/3 A/2A/1A high school athletes in the year 2012, selected from the finalists in the individual sport Prep A thletes cat egories. In winning the award, Bennett stood alongside not only her high-school peers from across the state, but also rubbed shoulders with athletes like Ashton Eaton and Megan Rapinoe, Olym pic gold-medal winners that took home the Harry Glick- man Professional Athlete of the Year Awards. The O regon S ports A w ards, p re s e n te d by Nike, were hosted by ESPN SportsCenter anchor and University of Oregon alum Neil Everett. A recorded version o f the webcast is available on www.oregon- live.com and www.oregon- sportsawards.com. District exceeds statewide Wyden schedules Morrow County town hall graduation rate According to the Or egon Department of Educa tion, Morrow County is do ing slightly better than the state average when it comes to graduation rates. The Oregon D epart ment of Education released a report on Jan. 31 focused on high school dropout and graduation rates state wide for the 2011-2012 school year. According to the report. Morrow County School District has a four- year cohort graduation rate of 76.33 percent, a five-year I cohort graduation rate of 78.70 percent and a dropout rate of 3.36 percent. This is compared to the Oregon four-year cohort graduation rate of 68.4 percent, five- year cohort graduation rate of 72.4 percent, and dropout rate of 3.4 percent. Morrow County School District is pleased that it exceeded the statew ide average; however, district representatives say they are also aware and concerned that the district does not have 100 percent o f stu dents graduating on time. “Our plan is to improve our ability to identify all students that are not on track to graduate and work with them in meaningful ways that will encourage them to complete their high school diploma in four or five years,” said Super intendent Dirk Dirksen. “When students have poor attendance, stop coming to school, fail courses and fall behind in credits, or choose Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will hold his an- nual town hall in Mor- row County at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 17. The meeting will be held in the Wyden has been hold- Riverfront Room of the Port ing town halls in every of Morrow, 2 Marine Drive, Oregon county every year Boardman. since 1996. -See DISTRICT GRAD RATES/PAGE EIGHT I V
